Sorry to hear you are having problems. I've built 2 of the 10's and installed 3-bladed MT's on both of them, and installed 3-bladed MT's on others. I've never had to remove the spinner. I do have the slot lengthened on the bottom cowl, and then covered with a filler plate when it is installed, and I do remove the nose gear fairing.
Scott is right on that you don't want any preload or the hinges will break for sure. I've always used a .040 or stiffer plate across the aft bottom cowl, riveted to the fueselage in place of the hinges, and then 6 each 10/32 screws across each bottom, left and right of the exhaust stacks. It seems to carry the load better (the 10 cowl is heavy). On 10's with the hinges they seem to need replacing every so often.

However, i have now got the knack and can do it relatively painlessly with 2 people without disassembling anything else. Bit late now, but a decent gap between the spinner and cowl helps - I have 1/4 to 3/8". Second, you must extend the gear slot by about 10" (sorry, can't measure right now) and use a removeable cover plate.

Start with the cowl tilted up at the back and (pretty obviously), the lower blades at 4/8 o'clock. You should then be able to slide the cowl over the gear fairing and under the blades. Then tilt it so that the back is slightly lower, get it as far back as possible and bring up. The baffle seals around the air intake are going to foul underneath the baffle ramps and it takes a fair amount of "persuading" to get them past. Some people recommend using stiff wire to pull them through but brute force also works..... It is a tight fit behind the spinner but it will go. Once you get here, you are home and dry and it just requires a bit of jiggling to get it in place. Make sure you have all the baffle seal material lying in the right place before you start fixing anything.

You might also talk to Saint Aviation....They have a neat way of splitting the bottom cowl in half for ease of removal.

I wonder if Jesse could be persuaded to post some pics or a video demonstrating the split lower cowl configuration.

Threads like this cause me to make mental notes-to-self, such as: 1) skip the hinges everywhere on the cowl. Buy once, cry once.

2) sexy three-blade props cost more to go slower. Don't set yourself up to wrestle the lower cowl off around one of these beauties, or you'll skimp on good maintenance and inspection habits to avoid the hassle.

sexy three-blade props cost more to go slower. Don't set yourself up to wrestle the lower cowl off around one of these beauties, or you'll skimp on good maintenance and inspection habits to avoid the hassle.

It's not just about being "sexy". Yes, the 3 blade is supposed to be a few knots slower in the cruise but take-off and climb are supposedly improved. My AP looks after several RV-10s and mine is the only one with the MT prop - he has remarked on several occasions about how smooth it is. The composite prop just takes away all the harshness. I'm happy to trade a couple of knots for less vibration.

Yes, the lower cowl removal can be a PITA but it only took me a few removals to get the hang of it. Whilst I am sure it is not as easy as the 2 blade, it is no longer a major issue. All things being equal, it only has to come off at the 50 hour oil change. Since that can't be done without removing the lower cowl, I fail to see how any inspections can be skimped on.......

Was wondering if anybody has installed the Skybolt on the horizontal cowl split line that has a 3 blade prop.
It was brought to my attention that you cannot get the lower cowl off if you have both the 3 blade prop and the skybolt fasteners.
The reason is the lower cowl apparently wont fit under the prop with the skybolt flanges sticking up.
Thanks for any help.

__________________Brian Steeves
#40955 RV-10 - N413BS - Sold
It is Airworthy and Flying. But are they ever done?
First Flight 9/28/2013

Follow Vic's post suggestions. I did that and it works great. I wouldn't split the cowl in half. I have to believe a split cowl hinged together for installation must be weaker than a not split composite cowl. The value of the 3-blade MT outways the additional few modifications noted. You will be happy with the end product.

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